Dune/Dune: Part One (2021) - Villeneuve revitalizes another SF boulder

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Stars assembled in a restrained color palette make up most of this poster for Denis Villeneuve's Dune

Paul Atreides is the heir in the House of Atreides, sent to rule the planet Arrakis, where the spice harvest is vital for space travel in the universe. But he and his mother soon find that they may have been set up to fail...

 

Dune is written by Jon Spaiths (The Darkest Hour (2011)), Eric Roth (Suspect (1987)) and Canadian master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Denis Villeneuve (August 32nd on Earth/Un 32 Août sur Terre (1998)), adapting Frank Herbert's (The Dragon in the Sea (1955-56)) same-titled 1965 novel.

Herbert's sci-fi classic has been adapted before (without much luck) by David Lynch as Dune (1984); and Chilean-French Alexander Jodorowsky's major Dune adaptation fell to pieces in the 1970s, chronicled in documentary Jodorowsky's Dune (2013). Now the novel is 56 years old and hardly modern anymore. It takes place about 8,000 years into the future but its widely spanning plot and universe feels more like a viking saga than a realistic situation we will actually find ourselves in far into the future.

Villeneuve has gathered a large, fine cast with the transfixing Timothée Chalamet (One and Two (2015)) in front as Paul Atreides. Stellan Skarsgård (The Railway Man (2013)) is made out as a giant fat villain as Harkonnen, and Jason Momoa (Pipeline (2007)) is enjoyable as the film's alpha warrior with the fitting name Duncan Idaho. His fight scenes are among the film's most exciting moments, along with flight in the Dune world's peculiar insect-like helicopters and one sandworm monster attack.

The dichotomy of harsh militaristic evil with greedy-capitalistic characteristics set against a people 'of the earth' with simple survival and fighting skills and no major power structure (here the so-called Fremen tribe which Paul goes to meet) is familiar SF fantasy territory to say the least, and there's no alleviating humor, romance or sex in Dune, which is very serious throughout its elaborate but easily followed story, most of which takes place on a desert planet, (so also no exotic lush worlds but a deliciously crackling sound design.) - As an experience it may therefore leave you feeling parched.

Despite the fascinating production design, costumes and engaged stars, Dune suffers from some of the same malaise that hindered Villeneuve's preceding film Blade Runner 2049 (2017) from really scoring; it is very long and serious, and it made me zone out and doze off once or twice, despite its respectable credentials. I predict it highly doubtful that Villeneuve's announced 2nd and 3rd Dune movies will ever see the light of day.

 

Related posts:

Denis Villeneuve: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - Villeneuve's speculative sci-fi sequel is fascinating but flawed 

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess
Arrival (2016) - Villeneuve, Heisserer and Adams head sensational sci-fi wonder
Incendies (2010) - Villeneuve's dreary and depressing, wildly overrated drama 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 165 mil. $

Box office: 103.9 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Dune premiered 3 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 155 minutes. Peter Berg was initially hired to direct the film for Paramount. Villeneuve had read the book as a teenager and said, "Dune is my world." Shooting took place from March - July 2019 in Austria, Slovakia, Norway, Jordan, Budapest, Hungary and in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Hans Zimmer elected to drop scoring Christopher Nolan's Tenet in order to score Dune, a favorite novel of his. Despite protests from Villeneuve, Dune will release in North America simultaneously theatrically and VoD at HBO Max for its first month, as is the case with all Warner Bros. 2021 titles due to the China Virus pandemic. The film's release has been pushed out almost a year due to the pandemic, and the release strategy's effect on the possibility for Villeneuve's planned Dune trilogy is yet unknown. The film has released to solid numbers in several mostly European markets yet, but has several major markets left to open in, including North America and China. A traditional theatrical evaluation requires the film to pass 412.5 mil. $ in gross to become profitable, however the streaming strategy is making the evaluation murky. IMDb users have rated the film in at #107 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Dangal (2016) and The Father (2020). Villeneuve is scheduled to return with The Son (miniseries). Chalamet returns in Don't Look Up (2021, VoD). Dune is fresh at 90 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Dune?

The Greatest Showman (2017) - Stars soar in spirit-rousing musical

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Hugh Jackman promises joy, magic and show on this poster for Michael Gracey's The Greatest Showman

P.T. Barnum grew up in poverty but had a family and a dream to dazzle, which made him create the New York circus with a multitude of American oddities, winning him renown the world over.

The Greatest Showman is written by Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City (1998-2004)) and Bill Condon (Dreamgirls (2006)), based on the life of P.T. Barnum, and directed by debuting Michael Gracey (Ned Kelly (2003), digital compositor).
Although based on reality, The Greatest Showman offers glittering fantasy from beginning to end, it seems, or more accurately, it wraps the reality it loans from in bright colors and costumes, eye-popping visuals and, most crucially, a barrage of pop songs, stars and upbeat showmanship with current themes of inclusion and diversity underpinning its plot.
It is a film it is easy to scoff at, - indeed its effervescent, unreal glamour and style nears the ridiculous and phony at times, - but it nevertheless bound to make your feet go ticking to the rhythms of its catchy songs and your heart race at its audacity and pathos-packed stretches, unless it is carved of stone. Because this imaginative take on Barnum is fueled with an undeniably likable sincerity, enthusiasm and spirit.
It is delivered through the engaged, sympathetic performance by Hugh Jackman (Logan (2017)), a performer with tremendous skill and range. Michelle Williams (Species (1995)) plays his mighty pretty housewife, who puts him right, while Zendaya (Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)) and Zac Efron (High School Musical (2006), TV movie) enjoy sweet chemistry and both have a luminescence that rockets their scenes upwards. Rebecca Ferguson (Life (2017)) is excellent in the dramatic part as opera singer Jenny Lind, lip-syncing her swelling Never Enough convincingly, while Keala Settle (Ricki and the Flash (2015)) as the bearded lady sings for real and has the film's best song, the truly fantastical This Is Me.
The music is a box of delights, and the costumes, hair and makeup help make the film's wealth of characters come to boisterous life. Seamus McGarvey's fluid cinematography is a joy, and the film is ripe with visual knockouts, unhindered by constraints of realism or convention.
Musical fans will adore The Greatest Showman with glee for although modern and hip, it is also a throw-back to some of the genre's greats from many decades ago. The Greatest Showman is a big, loud, infectious - and rare - spectacle, brimming with heart and soul.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 84 mil. $
Box office: 104.9 mil. $
= Too early to say
[The Greatest Showman premiered 20 December (Taiwan, South Korea and North America) and runs 105 minutes. The project was announced with Jackman in the lead in 2009. Gracey was chosen to direct in 2011. Lyricists Pasek and Paul were hired in 2013. Jackman has revealed that the long development process was due to the studio being reluctant to finance an original musical. Shooting took place from November 2016 - ? in New York. Veteran filmmaker James Mangold was credited as an executive producer and directed re-shoots for the film. The film opened #4, behind holdover hit Star Wars: The Last Jedi and fellow new releases Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 to an 8.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it rose to a 15.5 mil. $ second weekend, still at #4, one of the biggest second week increases for a wide release ever, testifying to its great word-of-mouth among audiences. The film is still missing a Chinese release date, but it is set to open in Norway, Finland, France and the Philippines later in January and in Japan in February. It is nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Gracey is set to return as director with ninja-adventure Naruto. The Greatest Showman is rotten at 56 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Greatest Showman?